In more than 40 episodes spanning 75 years, equity and bond fund investors have defied predictions that they would panic and spark crises. Yet banking regulators won’t let go of their “run” scenario. Why?

Trump nominates Oregon hotelier as EU ambassador

Donald Trump has nominated U.S. hotelier and Republican donor Gordon Sondland as his pick for ambassador to the European Union, the White House announced Thursday.

Sondland is the founder and chief executive of Provenance Hotels, which manages a number of luxury hotels and restaurants, mostly in Portland and Seattle. He also sits on the advisory board of bank holding company U.S. Bancorp and co-founded the merchant bank Aspen Group.

Sondland, whose parents fled persecution in Nazi Germany before World War II, had previously distanced himself from Trump and refused to take part in a 2016 fundraiser, saying via a spokesperson that Trump's "constantly evolving positions" diverged from his "personal beliefs and values on so many levels."

The position of EU ambassador has been empty since Anthony Gardner, the EU ambassador under President Barack Obama, left in January 2017.

Sondland's nomination has been sent to the U.S. Senate for approval, along with several other State Department and diplomatic nominations. Out of the U.S.'s 188 ambassadorial positions, 44 are still vacant, according to the American Foreign Service Association.